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THE    QUEEN 


THE    PIRATE    ISLE 


BRET     HARTE 


ILLUSTRATED     BY     KATE    GREEXAWAV 


CV     ElJMl'MJ     HANS 


BOSTON7    AND    NEW    YORK: 

HOUGHTON,     MIFFLIN     AND     COMPANY. 

rtss,  <CambrtJ>gc. 
1887. 


Copyright,   1886. 

BY    HOUGHTON,     MIFFLIX    &    CO. 
ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I'AGE 

FRONTISPIECE  4 

MRS.  SMITH  -  5 

BEGGAR  CHILD  10 

SCHOOLMISTRESS  10 

INDIAN  MAIDEN  1 1 

PROUD  LADY  12 

CHINESE  JUNK 13 

SWIMMING  FOR  HIS  LIKE                 -        -        -        -  14 

A  TENT  15 

CAPTURE  OF  A  MERCHANTMAN        -        -        -        -  16 

AT  SUPPER 18 

POLLY  IN  THE  BRANCHES       ....  2I 

PATSEY 23 

SLUMGULLION -  26 

EACH  OTHER'S  HANDS 28 

EDGE  OF  CLIFF 29 

SLIDING  DOWN  HILL 30 

PIG-TAIL  ROPE  32 

FIREWORKS  IN  CAVE 35 

LADY  MARY'S  HAIR  GONE       -  37 

POLLY -        -  39 

INVISIBLE  MEDICINE       -                          -         -        -  40 

CLAD  IN  THE  DEEPEST  MOURNING-         -         -  42 

BROTHER  STEP-AND- FETCH- IT  46 

WAN  LEE       -  52 

NOT  ALWAYS  PIRATES     -  54 

POLLY  BROUGHT  HOME  -                          -  -,6 

ASLEEP  WITH  DOLL ^8 


THE 


QUEEN  OF  THE  PIRATE  ISLE. 


I  FIRST  knew  her  as  the  Queen  of  the  Pirate  Isle. 
To  the  best  of  my  recollection  she  had  no  reason- 
able right  to  that  title.  She  was  only  nine  years 
old,  inclined  to  plumpness  and  good  humour,  depre- 
cated violence  and  had  never  been  to  sea.  Need  it 
bg  added  that  she  did  not  live  in  an  island  and  that 
her  name  \vas  "  Polly." 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  explain  that  she  had  already 
known  other  experiences  of  a  purely  imaginative 
character.  Part  of  her  existence  had  been  passed 


IO 


THE    QUEEN     OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


as  a  Beggar  Child — solely  indicated  by  a  shawl 
tightly  folded  round  her  shoulders 
and  chills,  —  as  a  Schoolmistress, 
unnecessarily  severe;  as  a  Preacher, 
singularly  personal  in  his  remarks, 
and  once,  after  reading "  one  of 
Cooper's  novels,  as  an  Indian 
Maiden.  This  was,  I  believe,  the 
only  instance  when  she  had  bor- 
rowed from  another's  fiction.  Most 

of  the   characters  that  she  assumed   for  clays  and 

sometimes  weeks   at   a 

time  were  purely  original 

in  conception  ;  some  so 

much  so  as  to  be  vague 

to  the  general  under- 
standing. I  remember 

that  her  personation  of 

a   certain    Mrs.    Smith, 

whose  individuality  was 

supposed  to  be  suffi- 
ciently represented  by  a  sun-bonnet  worn  wrong 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


II 


side  before  and  a  weekly  addition  to  her  family, 
was  never  perfectly  appreciated  by  her  own  circle 
although  she  lived  the  character  for  a  month. 
Another  creation  known  as  "The  Proud  Lady" — 
a  being  whose  excessive  and  unreasonable  haughti- 
ness was  so  pronounced  as  to  give  her  features  the 

expression  of  extreme 
nausea,  caused  her 
mother  so  much 
alarm  that  it  had  to 
be  abandoned.  This 
was  easily  effected. 
The  Proud  Lady  was  understood 
to  have  died.  Indeed,  most  of 
Polly's  impersonations  were  got 
rid  of  in  this  way,  although  it  by 
no  means  prevented  their  subsequent  reappearance. 
"  I  thought  Mrs.  Smith  was  dead,"  remonstrated 
her  mother  at  the  posthumous  appearance  of  that 
lady  with  a  new  infant.  "She  was  buried  alive 
and  kem  to!"  said  Polly  with  a  melancholy  air. 
Fortunately,  the  representation*  of  a  resuscitated 


12 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


person  required  such 
extraordinary    acting, 
was,    through 
some    uncertainty   of 
conception,    so   closely   allied 
in    facial    expression    to    the 
Proud  Lady,  that  Mrs.  Smith 
was    resuscitated   only   for   a 
day. 

The  origin  of  the  title  of 
the  Queen  of  the  Pirate  Isle, 
may  be  briefly  stated  as 
follows  :— 

An  hour  after  luncheon, 
one  day,  Polly,  Hickory 

Hunt,  her  cousin,  and  Wan  Lee,  a  Chinese  page, 
were  crossing  the  nursery  floor  in  a  Chinese  junk, 
The  sea  was  calm  and  the  sky  cloudless.  Any 
change  in  the  weather  was  as  unexpected  as  it  is  in 
books.  Suddenly  a  West  Indian  Hurricane,  purely 
local  in  character  and  unfelt  anywhere  else,  struck 
Master  Hickory  and  threw  him  overboard,  whence; 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  13 

wildly  swimming  for  his  life  and  carrying  Polly  on 
his  back,  he  eventually  reached  a  Desert  Island  in 
the  closet.  Here  the  rescued  party  put  up  a  tent 
made  of  a  table  cloth  providentially  snatched  from 
the  raging  billows,  and  from  two  o'clock  until  four, 
passed  six  weeks  on  the  island  supported  only  by  a 
piece  of  candle,  a  box  of  matches,  and  two  pepper- 
mint lozenges.  It  was  at  this  time  that  it  became 


Jh 

14  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

necessary  to  account  for  Polly's  existence  among 
them,  and  this  was  only  effected  by  an  alarming 
sacrifice  of  their  morality ;  Hickory  and  Wan  Lee 
instantly  became  Pirates,  and  at  once  elected  Polly 
as  their  Queen.  The  royal  duties,  which  seemed  tc 
be  purely  maternal,  consisted  in  putting  the  Pirates 


to  bed  after  a  day  of  rapine  and  bloodshed,  and  in 
feeding  them  with  liquorice  water  through  a  quill  in 
a  small  bottle.  Limited  as  her  functions  were,  Polly 
performed  them  with  inimitable  gravity  and  unques- 
tioned sincerity.  Even  when  her  companions  some- 
times hesitated  from  actual  hunger  or  fatigue  and 
forgot  their  guilty  part,  she  never  faltered.  It  was 


THE     QUEEN     OF    THE     PIRATE    ISLE.  15 

her  real  existence — her  other  life  of  being  washed, 


dressed,  and  put  to  bed  at  certain  hours  by  her 
mother  was  the  illusion. 

Doubt  and  scepticism  came  at  last, — and  came 
from  Wan  Lee  !  Wan  Lee  of  all  creatures  !  Wan 
Lee,  whose  silent,  stolid,  mechanical  performance  of 
a  Pirate's  duties — a  perfect  imitation  like  all  his 
household  work — had  been  their  one  delight  and 
fascination ! 

It  was  just  after  the  exciting  capture  of  a  mer- 


i6 


THE     QUEEN     OF    THE     PIRATE    ISLE. 


chantman  with  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  all  on 
board — a  spectacle  on  which  the  round  blue  eyes  of 
the  plump  Polly  had  gazed  with  royal  and  maternal 
tolerance,  and  they  were  burying  the  bdfety — two 
table  spoons  and  a  thimble  in  the  ct>rner  of  the 
closet,  when  Wan  Lee  stolidly  rose. 

"  Melican  boy  pleenty  foolee  !  Melican  boy  no 
Pilat!"  said  the  little  Chinaman,  substituting  "1's" 
for  "r's"  after  his  usual  fashion. 


to 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  17 

"  Wotcher  say?"  said  Hickory,  reddening  with 
sudden  confusion. 

"  Melican  boy's  papa  heap  lickee  him — spose  him 
leal  Pilat,  ".continued  Wan  Lee,  doggedly.  "  Melican 
boy  Pilat  inside  housee ;  Chinee  boy  Pilat  outside 
housee.  First  chop  Pilat." 

Staggered  by  this  humiliating  statement,  Hickory 
recovered  himself  in  character.  "Ah!  Ho!"  he 
shrieked,  dancing  wildly  on  one  leg,  "  Mutiny  and 
Splordinashun  !  Way  with  him  to  the  yard 
arm." 

"Yald  aim — heap  foolee  !  Allee  same  clothes 
hoss  for  washee  washee." 

It  was  here  necessary  for  the  Pirate  (|ueen  to 
assert  her  authority,  which,  as  I  have  before  stated 
was  somewhat  confusingly  maternal.  "  Go  to  bed 
instantly  without  your  supper,"  she  said,  seriously. 
"Really,  I  never  saw  such  bad  pirates  Say  your 
prayers,  and  see  that  you're  up  early  to  church  to- 
morrow." It  should  be  explained  that  in  deference 
to  Polly's  proficiency  as  a  preacher,  and  probably  as 
a  relief  to  their  uneasy  consciences.  Divine  Service 


18 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


had  always  been  held  on  the  Island.     But  Wan  Lee 
continued  : — 

"  Me  no  shabbee  Pilat  inside  housee ;  me  shabbee 
Pilat  outside  housee.  Spose  you  lun  away  longside 
Chinee  boy—Chinee  boy  makee  you  Pilat " 


Hickory  softly  scratched  his  leg  while  a  broad, 
bashful  smile,  almost  closed  his  small  eyes.  "  Wot !" 
he  asked. 

"  Mebbee  you  too  frightened  to  lun  away. 
Melican  boy's  papa  heap  lickee." 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  19 

This  last  infamous  suggestion  fired  the  corsair's 
blood.  "  Dy'ar  think  we  daresent,"  said  Hickory, 
desperately,  but  with  an  uneasy  glance  at  Polly. 
"I'll  show  yer  to-morrow." 

The  entrance  of  Polly's  mother  at  this  moment 
put  an  end  to  Polly's  authority  and  dispersed  the 
pirate  band,  but  left  Wan  Lee's  proposal  and 
Hickory's  rash  acceptance  ringing  in  the  ears  of  the 
Pirate  Queen.  That  evening  she  was  unusually 
silent.  She  would  have  taken  Bridget,  her  nurse, 
into  her  confidence,  but  this  would  have  involved  a 
long  explanation  of  her  own  feelings,  from  which, 
like  all  imaginative  children,  she  shrank.  She,  how- 
ever, made  preparation  for  the  proposed  flight  by 
settling  in  her  mind  which  of  her  two  dolls  she 
would  take.  A  wooden  creature  with  easy  going 
knees  and  moveable  hair  seemed  to  be  more  fit  for 
hard  service  and  any  indiscriminate  scalping  that 
might  turn  up  hereafter.  At  supper,  she  timidly 
asked  a  question  of  Bridget.  "  Did  ye  ever  hear 
the  loikes  uv  that,  Ma'am,"  said  the  Irish  handmaid 
with  affectionate  pride,  "  Shure  the  darlint's  head 


20  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

is  filled  noight  and  day  with  ancient  history.  She's 
after  asking  me  now  if  Queen's  ever  run  away!" 
To  Polly's  remorseful  confusion  here  her  good 
father  equally  proud  of  her  precocious  interest  and 
his  own  knowledge,  at  once  interfered  with  an  un- 
intelligible account  of  the  abdication  of  various 
Queens  in  history  until  Polly's  head  ached  again. 
Well  meant  as  it  was,  it  only  settled  in  the  child's 
mind  that  she  must  keep  the  awful  secret  to  herself 
and  that  no  one  could  understand  her. 

The  eventful  day  dawned  without  any  unusual 
sign  of  importance.  It  was  one  of  the  cloudless 
summer  days  of  the  California!!  foot  hills,  bright, 
dry,  and"  as  the  morning  advanced,  hot  in  the  white 
sunshine.  The  actual,  prosaic  house  in  which  the 
Pirates  apparently  lived,  was  a  mile  from  a  mining 
settlement  on  a  beautiful  ridge  of  pine  woods 
sloping  gently  towards  a  valley  on  the  one  side,  and 
on  the  other  falling  abruptly  into  a  dark  deep  olive 
gulf  of  pine  trees,  rocks,  and  patches  of  red  soil. 
Beautiful  as  the  slope  was,  looking  over  to  the 
distant  snow  peaks  which  seemed  to  be  in  another 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


21 


world  than  theirs,  the  children  found  a  greater 
attraction  in  the  fascinating  depths  of  a  mysterious 
gulf,  or  "canon,"  as  it  was  called,  whose  very  name 
filled  their  ears  with  a  weird  music.  To  creep  to 
the  edge  of  the  cliff,  to  sit  upon  the  brown  branches 
of  some  fallen  pine,  and  putting  aside  the  dried 
tassels  to  look  down  upon  the  backs  of  wheeling 
hawks  that  seemed  lo  hang  in  mid-air  was  a  never 
failing  delight.  Here  Polly  would  try  to  trace  the 
winding  red  ribbon  of  road  that  was  continually 
losing  itself  among  the  dense  pines  of  the  opposite 
mountains ;  here  she  would  listen  to  the  far  off 


22  *    THE-  QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

strokes  of  a  woodman's  axe,  or  the  rattle  of  some 
heavy  waggon,  miles  away,  crossing  the  pebbles  of 
a  dried  up  water  course.  Here,  too,  the  prevailing 
colours  of  the  mountains,  red  and  white  and  green, 
most  showed  themselves.  There  were  no  frowning 
rocks  to  depress  the  children's  fancy,  but  every- 
where along  the  ridge  pure  white  quartz  bared  itself 
through  the  red  earth  like  smiling  teeth,  the  very 
pebbles  they  played  with  were  streaked  with  shin- 
ing mica  like  bits  of  looking-glass.  The  distance 
was  always  green  and  summer-like,  but  the  colour 
they  most  loved,  and  which  was  most  familiar  to 
them,  was  the  dark  red  of  the  ground  beneath  their 
feet  everywhere.  ,  It  showed  itself  in  the  roadside 
bushes;  its  red  dust  pervaded  the  leaves  of  the 
overhanging  laurel,  it  coloured  their  shoes  and 
pinafores ;  I  am  afraid  it  was  eften  seen  in  Indian 
like  patches  on  their  faces  and  hands.  That  it  may 
have  often  given  a»^anguinary  tone  to  their  fancies, 
I  have  every  reason  to  believe. 

It  was   on  t^is    ridge   that   the    three   children 
gathered  at  ten*  o'clock  that  morning.      An  earlier 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIKATE    I 

flight  had  been  impossible  on  account  of  Wan  Lee 
being  obliged  to  perform  his  regular  duty  of 
blacking  the  shoes  of  Polly  and  Hickory  before 
breakfast, — a  menial  act  which  in  the  pure  Republic 
of  childhood  was  never  thought  inconsistent  with 
the  loftiest  piratical  ambition.  On  the  ridge  they 
met  one  "  Patsey,"  the  son  of  a  neighbour,  sun 
burned,  broad-brimmed  hatted,  red  handed,  like 
themselves.  As  there  were  afterwards  some  doubts 
expressed  whether  he  joined  the  Pirates  of  his  own 


24  THE,    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

free  will,  or  was  captured  by  them,  I  endeavour  to 
give  the  colloquy  exactly  as  it  occurred  : — 

Patsey.     "  Hallo,  fellers." 

The  Pirates.     "  Hello!" 

Patsey.  "  Coin'  to  hunt  bars  ?  Dad  seed  a  lot  o' 
tracks  at  sun  up." 

The  Pirates  (hesitating).      "  No — o — 

Patsey.  "  I  am  ;  know  where  I  kin  get  a  six- 
shooter." 

The  Pirates  (almost  ready  to  abandon  piracy  for 
bear  hunting,  but  preserving  their  dignity).  "Can't1 
We've  runn'd  away  for  real  pirates." 

^atsey.     "Not  for  good !" 

The  Queen  (interposing  with  sad  dignity  and  real 
tears  in  her  round  blue  eyes).  "  Yes!"  (slowly  and 
v  shaking  her  head).  "  Can't  go  back  again.  Hever! 
Never!  Never!  The— the — eye  is  cast!" 

Patsey  (bursting  with  excitement).  "No'o! 
Sho'o!  Wan ter  know." 

The  Pirates  (a  little  frightened  themselves,  but 
tremulous  with  gratified  vanity).  "  The  Perleese  is 
on  our  track !" 


£ 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  2$ 

Patsey.     "  Lemme  go  with  yer !" 

Hickory.     "  Wot'll  yer  giv  ?" 

Patsey.     "  Pistol  and  er  bananer." 

Hickory  (with  judicious  prudence).  "Lets  see 
'em." 

Patsey  was  off  like  a  shot ;  his  bare  little  red 
feet  trembling  under  him.  In  a  few  minutes  he 
returned  with  an  old  fashioned  revolver  known  as 
one  of  "  Allen's  pepper  boxes  "  and  a  large  banana. 
He  was  at  once  enrolled  and  the  banana  eaten. 

As  yet  they  had  resolved  on  no  definite  nefarious 
plan.  Hickory  looking  down  at  Patsey 's  bare  feet 
instantly  took  off  his  own  shoes.  The  bold  act  sent 
a  thrill  through  his  companions.  Wan  Lee  took  off 
his  cloth  leggings,  Polly  removed  her  shoes  and 
stockings,  but  with  royal  foresight,  tied  them  up  in 
her  handkerchief.  The  last  link  between  them  and 
civilization  was  broken. 

"  Let's  go  to  the  Slumgullion." 

"  Slumgullion  "  was  the  name  given  by  the 
miners  to  a  certain  soft,  half-liquid  mud,  formed  of 
the  water  and  finely  powdered  earth  that  was  carried 


26  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

off  by  the  sluice  boxes  during  gold  washing,  and 
eventually  collected  in  a  broad  pool  or  lagoon  before 
the  outlet.  There  was  a  pool  of  this  kind  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  where  there  were  "diggings"  worked 
by  Patsey's  father,  and  thither  they  proceeded  along 
the  ridge  in  single  file.  I/When  it  was  reached  they 
solemnly  began  to  wade  in  its  viscid  paint -like 
shallows.  Possibly  its  unctuousness  was  pleasant 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  2? 

to  the  touch ;  possibly  there  was  a  fascination  in 
the  fact  that  their  parents  had  forbidden  them  to  go 
near  it,  but  probably  the  principal  object  of  this  per- 
formance was  to  produce  a  thick  coating  of  mud  on 
the  feet  and  ankles,  which,  when  dried  in  the  sun* 
was  supposed  to  harden  the  skin  and  render  their 
shoes  superfluous.  It  was  also  felt  to  be  the  first 
real  step  towards  independence ;  they  looked  down 
at  their  ensanguined  extremities  and  recognized  the 
impossibility  of  their  ever  again  crossing  (unwashed) 
the  family  threshold. 

Then  they  again  hesitated.  There  was  a  mani- 
fest need  of  some  well  defined  piratical  purpose. 
The  last  act  was  reckless  and  irretrievable,  but  it 
was  vague.  They  gazed  at  each  other.  There  was 
a  stolid  look  of  resigned  and  superior  tolerance  in 
Wan  Lee's  eyes.  Polly's  glance  wandered  down 
the  side  of  the  slope  to  the  distant  little  tunnels 
or  openings  made  by  the  miners  who  were  at  work 
in  the  bowels  of  the  mountain.  "  I'd  like  to  go  into 
one  of  them  funny  holes,"  she  said  to  herself,  half 
aloud. 


LOS  ANGELES    ...  ", 


28  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE* 

Wan  Lee  suddenly  began  to  blink  his  eyes  with 
unwonted  excitement.  "  Catchee  tunnel  —  heap 
gold,"  he  said,  quickly.  "When  manee  come  out- 
side to  catchee  dinner — Pilats  go  inside  catchee 
tunnel !  Shabbee  !  Pilats  catchee  gold  allee  sainee 
Melican  man ! " 


"And  take  perseshiun,"  said  Hickory. 

"  And  hoist  the  Pirate  flag,"  said  Patsey. 

"And  build  a  fire,  and  cook,  and  have  a  family," 
said  Polly. 

The  idea  was  fascinating  to  the  point  of  being 
irresistible.  The  eyes  of  the  four  children  became 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  29 

rounder  and  rounder.  They  seized  each  other's 
hands  and  swung  them  backwards  and  forwards, 
occasionally  lifting  their  legs  in  a  solemn  rythmic 
movement  known  only  to  childhood. 

"  Its  orful  far  off!"  said  Patsey,  with  a  sudden 
look  of  dark  importance.  "  Pap  sez  its  free  miles  on 
the  road.  Take  all  day  ter  get  there." 

The  bright  faces  were  overcast. 

"  Less  go  down  er  slide  !"  said  Hickory,  boldly. 

They  approached  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  The 
"slide"  was  simply  a  sharp  incline  zigzagging  down 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


the  side  of  the  mountain  used  for  sliding  goods  and 
provisions  from  the  summit  to  the  tunnel  men  at 
the  different  openings  below.  The  con- 
tinual traffic  had  gradually  worn  a 
shallow  gulley  half  filled  with  earth 
and  gravel  into  the  face  of 
the  mountain  which 
checked  the  momentum 
goods  in  their  down- 
but  afforded  no 
pedestrian, 
ever  been 
a  slide. 


served 


of  the 

ward  passage, 

foothold   for   a 

No  one  had 

known  to  descend 

That  feat  was  evidently  re- 

for   the    Pirate   band.      They 

approached    the   edge   of    the-  slide 

hand   in    hand,    hesitated  —  and    the    next  \ 

V 

moment  disappeared ! 

Five  minutes  later  the  tunnel  men  of  the  Excel- 
sior mine,  a  mile  below,  taking  their  luncheon  on 
the  rude  platform  of  debris  before  their  tunnel,  were 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  31 

suddenly  driven  to  shelter  in  the  tunnel  from  an 
apparent  rain  of  stones,  and  rocks,  and  pebbles, 
from  the  cliffs  above.  Looking  up,  they  were 
startled  at  seeing  four  round  objects  revolving  and 
bounding  in  the  dust  of  the  slide,  which  eventually 
resolved  themselves  ,  into  three  boys  and  a  girl. 
For  a  moment  the  good  men  held  their  breath  in 
helpless  terror.  Twice,  one  of  the  children,  had 
struck  the  outer  edge  of  the  bank  and  displaced 
stones  that  shot  a  thousand  feet  down  into  the  dizzy 
depths  of  the  valley!  and  now,  one  of  them,  the 
girl,  had  actually  rolled  out  of  the  slide  and  was 
hanging  over  the  chasm  supported  only  by  a  clump 
of  chimasal  to  which  she  clung ! 

"Hang  on  by  your  eyelids,  Sis!  but  don't  stir 
for  Heaven's  sake !'-  shouted  one  of  the  men,  as 
two  others  started  on  a  hopeless  ascent  of  the  cliff 
above  them. 

But  a  light  childish  laugh  from  the  clinging  little 
figure  seemed  to  mock  them !  Then  two  small 
heads  appeared  at  the  edge  of  the  slide  ;  then  a 
diminutive  figure  whose  feet  were  apparently  held 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


by  some  invisible  companion,  was  shoved  over  the 
brink  and  stretched  its  tiny  arms  towards  the  girl. 
But  in  vain,  the  distance  was  too  great.  Another 
laugh  of  intense  youthful 
enjoyment  followed  the 
failure,  and  a  new  inse- 
curity was  added 
to  the  situation 
by  the  unsteady  ^3*®^  /  hands  and 

shoulders 
of    the 
relieving 
part  y 
who  were 
apparently 
shaking  with 
laughter. 

Then  the  extended  figure  was  seen  to  detach  what 
looked  like  a  small  black  rope  from  its  shoulders 
and  throw  it  to  the  girl.  There  was  another  little 
giggle-  The  faces  of  the  men  below  paled  in 
terror.  Then  Polly — for  it  was  she — hanging  to 


7 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  33 

the  long  pig-tail  of  Wan  Lee,  was  drawn  with  fits 
of  laughter  back  in  safety  to  the  slide.  Their 
childish  treble  of  appreciation  was  answered  by  a 
ringing  cheer  from  below. 

"  Darned  ef  I  ever  want  to  cut  off  a  Chinaman's 
pig-tail  again,  boys,"  said  one  of  the  tunnel  men  as 
he  went  back  to  dinner. 

Meantime  the  children  had  reached  the  goal  and 
stood  before  the  opening  of  one  of  the  tunnels. 
Then  these  four  heroes  who  had  looked  with 
cheerful  levity  on  the  deadly  peril  of  their  descent 
became  suddenly  frightened  at  the  mysterious 
darkness  of  the  cavern  and  turned  pale  at  its 
threshold. 

"  Mebbee  a  wicked  Joss  backside  holee,  He 
catchee  Pilats,"  said  Wan  Lee,  gravely. 

Hickory  began  to  whimper,  Patsey  drew  back, 
Polly  alone  stood  her  ground,  albeit  with  a  trem- 
bling lip. 

"  Let's  say  our  prayers  and  frighten  it  away,"  she 
said,  stoutly. 

"No!   No!"  said  Wan  Lee,  with  sudden  alarm. 


34  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

"  No  frighten  Spillits  !    You  waitee !    Chinee  boy  he 
talkee  Spillit  not  to  frighten  you."* 

Tucking  his  hands  under  his  blue  blouse,  Wan 
Lee  suddenly  produced  from  some  mysterious  recess 
of  his  clothing  a  quantity  of  red  paper  slips  which 
he  scattered  at  the  entrance  of  the  cavern.  |\Then 
drawing  from  the  same  inexhaustible  receptacle 
certain  squibs  or  fireworks,  he  let  them  off  and 
threw  them  into  the  opening.  There  they  went  off 
with  a  slight  fizz  and  splutter,  a  momentary  glitter- 
ing of  small  points  in  the  darkness  and  a  strong 
smell  of  gunpowder.  Polly  gazed  at  the  spectacle 
with  undisguised  awe  and  fascination.  Hickory 
and  Patsey  breathed  hard  with  satisfaction ;  it 
was  beyond  their  wildest  dreams  of  mystery  and 
romance.  Even  Wan  Lee  appeared  transfigured 
into  a  superior  being  by  the  potency  of  his  own 
spells.  But  an  unaccountable  disturbance  of  some 
kind  in  the  dim  interior  of  the  tunnel  quickly  drew 
the  blood  from  their  blanched  cheeks  again.  It  was 

*  The  Chinese  pray  devoutly  to  the  Evil  Spirits  not  to  injure 
them. 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


35 


a  sound  like  coughing  followed  by  something  like 
an  oath. 

"  He's  made  the  Evil  Spirit  orful  sick,"  said 
Hickory,  in  a  loud  whisper. 

A  slight  laugh  that  to  the  children  seemed  demo- 
niacal, followed. 

"See,"  said  Wan  Lee,  "Evil  Spillet  be  likee 
Chinee,  try  talkee  him." 

The  Pirates  looked  at  Wan  Lee  not  without  a 

certain  envy  of  this  manifest  favouritismA    A  fearful 

- 


36  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

desire  to  continue  their  awful  experiments,  instead 
of  pursuing  their  piratical  avocations,  was  taking 
possession  of  them  ;  but  Polly,  with  one  of  the  swift 
transitions  of  childhood,  immediately  began  to  ex- 
temporise a  house  for  the  party  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tunnel,  and,  with  parental  foresight,  gathered  the 
fragments  of  the  squibs  to  build  a  fire  for  supper. 
That  frugal  meal  consisting  of  half  a  ginger  biscuit, 
divided  into  five  small  portions  each  served  on  a 
chip  of  wood,  and  having  a  deliciously  mysterious 
flavour  of  gunpowder  and  smoke,  was  soon  over. 
It  was  necessary  after  this,  that  the  Pirates  should 
at  once  seek  repose  after  a  day  of  adventure,  which 
they  did  for  the  space  of  forty  seconds  in  singularly 
impossible  attitudes  and  far  too  aggressive  snoring. 
Indeed,  Master  Hickory's  almost  upright  pose,  with 
tightly  folded  arms,  and  darkly  frowning  brows 
was  felt  to  be  dramatic,  but  impossible  for  a  longer 
period.  The  brief  interval  enabled  Polly  to  col- 
lect herself  and  to  look  around  her  in  her  usual 
motherly  fashion.  Suddenly  she  started  and  uttered 
a  cry.  In  the  excitement  of  the  descent  she  had 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


37 


quite  overlooked  her  doll,  and  was  now  regarding 
it  with  round-eyed  horror! 

"Lady  Mary's  hair's  gone!"  she  cried,  convul- 
sively grasping  the  Pirate  Hickory's  legs. 


Hickory  at  once  recognised  the  battered  doll 
under  the  aristocratic  title  which  Polly  had  long 
ago  bestowed  upon  it.  He  stared  at  the  bald  and 
battered  head. 

"Ha!  ha!'|fche  said,  hoarsely;  "skelped  by 
Injins!" 


38  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

For  an  instant  the  delicious  suggestion  soothed 
the  imaginative  Polly.  But  it  was  quickly  dispelled 
by  Wan  Lee. 

"  Lady  Maley's  pig-tail  hangee  top  side  hillee. 
Catchee  on  big  quartz  stone  allee  same  Polly,  me  go 
fetchee." 

"  No ! "  quickly  shrieked  the  others.  The  pro- 
spect of  being  left  in  the  proximity  of  Wan  Lee's 
evil  spirit,  without  Wan  Lee's  exorcising  power,  was 
anything  but  reassuring.  "  No,  don't  go !  "  Even 
Polly  (dropping  a  maternal  tear  on  the  bald  head  of 
Lady  Mary)  protested  against  this  breaking  up  of 
the  little  circle.  "Go  to  bed,"  she  said,  authorita- 
tively, "and  sleep  until  morning." 

Thus  admonished,  the  pirates  again  retired. 
This  time  effectively,  for  worn  by  actual  fatigue  or 
soothed  by  the  delicious  coolness  of  the  cave,  they 
gradually,  one  by  one,  succumbed  to  real  slumber. 
Polly  withheld  from  joining  them,  by  official  and 
maternal  responsibility  sat  and  blinked  at  them 
affectionately.  qp 

Gradually  she,  too,  felt  herself  yielding  to   the 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  39 

fascination  and  mystery  of  the  place  and  the  soli- 
tude that  encompassed  her.  Beyond  the  pleasant 
shadows  where  she  sat,  she  saw  the  great  world  of 
mountain  and  valley  through  a  dreamy  haze  that 
seemed  to  rise  from  the  depths  below  and  occasion- 
ally hang  before  the  cavern  like  a  veil.  Long  waves 
of  spicy  heat  rolling  up  the  mountain  from  the 
valley  brought  her  the  smell  of  pine  trees  and  bay, 
and  made  the  landscape  swim  before  her  eyes.  She 
could  hear  the  far  off  cry  of  teamsters  on  some  un- 
seen road ;  she  could  see  the  far  off  cloud  of  dust 
following  the  mountain  stage  coach,  whose  rattling 
wheels  she  could  not  hear.  She  felt  rery  lonely, 
but  was  not  quite  afraid  ;  she  felt  very  melancholy, 


40  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

but  was  not  entirely  sad.  And  she  could  have 
easily  awakened  her  sleeping  companions  if  she 
wished. 

No !     She  was  a  lone  widow  with  nine  children, 
six  of  whom  were  already  in  the  lone  churchyard 


on  the  hill,  and  the  others  lying  ill  with  measles 
and  scarlet  fever  beside  her.  She  had  just  walked 
many  weary  miles  that  day,  and  had  often  begged 
from  door  to  door  for  a  slice  of  bread  for  the  starv- 
ing little  ones.  It  was  of  no  use  ^v— they  would 
die!  They  would  never  see  their  dear  mother 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  4! 

again.  This  was  a  favourite  imaginative  situation 
of  Polly's,  but  only  indulged  when  her  companions 
were  asleep,  partly  because  she  could  not  trust  con- 
federates with  her  more  serious  fancies,  and  partly 
because  they  were  at  such  times  passive  in  her 
hands.  She  glanced  timidly  round ;  satisfied  that 
no  one  could  observe  her,  she  softly  visited  the  bed- 
side of  each  of  her  companions,  and  administered 
from  a  purely  fictitious  bottle  spoonfuls  of  invisible 
medicine.  Physical  correction  in  the  form  of  slight 
taps,  which  they  always  required,  and  in  which 
Polly  was  strong,  was  only  withheld  now  from  a 
sense  of  their  weak  condition.  But  in  vain,  they 
succumbed  to  the  fell  disease  —  (they  always  died 
at  this  juncture) — and  Polly  was  left  alone.  She 
thought  of  the  little  church  where  she  had  once 
seen  a  funeral,  and  remembered  the  nice  smell  of 
the  flowers ;  she  dwelt  with  melancholy  satisfaction 
on  the  nine  little  tombstones  in  the  graveyard,  each 
with  an  inscription,  and  looked  forward  with  gentle 
anticipation  to  «lfce  long  summer  days  when,  with 
Lady  Mary  in  her  lap,  she  would  sit  on  those 


42  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

graves   clad   in   the   deepest   mourning.     The  fact 
that  the  unhappy  victims  at  times  moved  as  it  were 


uneasily  in  their  graves  or  snored,  did  not  affect 
Polly's  imaginative  contemplation,  nor  withhold  the 
tears  that  gathered  in  her  round  eyes. 

Presently  the  lids  of  the  round  eyes  began  to 
droop,  the  landscape  beyond  began  to  grow  more 
confused,  and  sometimes  to  disappear  entirely  and 
reappear  again  with  startling  distinctness.  Then  a 
sound  of  rippling  water  from  the  little  stream  that 
flowed  from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  soothed  her 
and  seemed  to  carry  her  away  with  it,  and  then 
everything  was  dark. 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  43 

The  next  thing  she  remembered  was  that  she 
was  apparently -being  carried  along  on  some  gliding 
object  to  the  sound  of  rippling  water.  She  was  not 
alone,  for  her  three  companions  were  lying  beside 
her,  rather  tightly  packed  and  squeezed  in  the  same 
mysterious  vehicle.  Even  in  the  profound  darkness 
that  surrounded  her,  Polly  could  feel  and  hear  that 
they  were  accompanied,  and  once  or  twice  a  faint 
streak  of  light  from  the  side  of  the  tunnel  showed 
her  gigantic  shadows  walking  slowly  on  either  side 
of  the  gliding  car.  She  felt  the  little  hands  of  her 
associates  seeking  hers,  and  knew  they  were  awake 
and  conscious,  and  she  returned  to  each  a  reassur- 
ing pressure  from  the  large  protecting  instinct  of 
her  maternal  little  heart.  Presently  the  car  glided 
into  an  open  space  of  bright  light,  and  stopped. 
The  transition  from  the  darkness  of  the  tunnel  at 
first  dazzled  their  eyes.  It  was  like  a  dream. 

They  were  in  a  circular  cavern  from  which  three 
other  tunnels  like  the  one  they  had  passed  through, 
diverged.  The  walls,  lit  up  by  fifty  or  sixty  candles 
stuck  at  irregular  intervals  in  crevices  of  the  rock, 

.D 


44  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

were  of  glittering  quartz  and  mica.  But  more  re- 
markable than  all  were  the  inmates  of  the  cavern, 
who  were  ranged  round  the  walls  ;  men,  who  like 
their  attendants,  seemed  to  be  of  extra  stature ; 
who  had  blackened  faces,  wore  red  bandanna  hand- 
kerchiefs round  their  heads  and  their  waists,  and 
carried  enormous  knives  and  pistols  stuck  in  their 
belts.  On  a  raised  platform  made  of  a  packing 
box,  on  which  was  rudely  painted  a  skull  and  cross 
bones,  sat  the  chief  or  leader  of  the  band  covered 
with  a  buffalo  robe ;  on  either  side  of  him  were  two 
small  barrels  marked  "  Grog "  and  "  Gunpowder." 
The  children  stared  and  clung  closer  to  Polly.  Yet, 
in  spite  of  these  desperate  and  warlike  accessories, 
the  strangers  bore  a  singular  resemblance  to 
"Christy  Minstrels"  in  their  blackened  faces  and 
attitudes  that  somehow  made  them  seem  less 
awful.  In  particular,  Polly  was  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  even  the  most  ferocious  had  a  certain 
kindliness  of  eye,  and  showed  their  teeth  almost 
idiotically. 

"Welcome,"  said  the  leader.     "Welcome  to  the 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  45 

Pirate's  Cave !  The  Red  Rover  of  the  North  Fork 
of  the  Stanislaus  River  salutes  the  Queen  of  the 
Pirate  Isle!"  He  rose  up  and  made  an  extra- 
ordinary bow.  It  was  repeated  by  the  others  with 
more  or  less  exaggeration  to  the  point  of  one 
humourist  losing  his  balance ! 

"O,  thank  you  very  much,"  said  Polly,  timidly, 
but  drawing  her  little  flock  closer  to  her  with  a 
small  protecting  arm ;  "  but  could  you — would  you 
— please — tell  us — what  time  it  is  ?" 

"  We  are  approaching  the  Middle  of  Next 
Week,"  said  the  leader,  gravely;  "but  what  of 
that  ?  Time  is  made  for  slaves  !  The  Red  Rover 
seeks  it  not!  Why  should  the  Queen  ?" 

"  I  think  we  must  be  going,"  hesitated  Polly,  yet 
by  no  means  displeased  with  the  recognition  of  her 
rank. 

"  Not  until  we  have  paid  homage  to  your 
Majesty,"  returned  the  leader.  "What  ho!  there! 
Let  Brother  Step-and-Fetch-It  pass  the  Queen 
around  that  we  may  do  her  honour."  Observing 
that  Polly  shrank  slightly  back,  he  added  :  "  Fear 


46 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


nothing,  the  man  who  hurts  a  hair  of  Her  Majesty's 
head,  dies  by  this  hand.     Ah  !    ha!" 

The  others  all  said,  ha !  ha !  and  danced  alterna- 
tely on  one  leg  and  then  on  the  other,  but  always 
with  the  same  dark  resemblance  to  Christy  Min- 
strels. Brother  Step-and-Fetch-It,  whose  very  long 
beard  had  a  confusing  suggestion  of  being  a  part  of 
the  leader's  buffalo  robe,  lifted  her  gently  in  his 


arms  and  carried  her  to  the   Red  Rovers  in  turn. 
Each  one  bestowed  a  kiss  upon  her  cheek  or  fore- 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  47 

head,  and  would  have  taken  her  in  his  arms,  or  on 
his  knees,  or  otherwise  lingered  over  his  salute,  but 
they  were  sternly  restrained  by  their  leader.  When 
the  solemn  rite  was  concluded,  Step-and-Fetch-It 
paid  his  own  courtesy  with  an  extra  squeeze  of  the 
curly  head,  and  deposited  her  again  in  the  truck — a 
little  frightened,  a  little  astonished,  but  with  a  con- 
siderable accession  to  her  dignity.  Hickory  and 
Patsey  looked  on  with  stupefied  amazement.  Wan 
Lee  alone  remained  stolid  and  unimpressed,  regard- 
ing the  scene  with  calm  and  triangular  eyes. 

"Will  Your  Majesty  see  the  Red  Rover's 
dance  ?" 

'  No,  if  you  please."  said  Polly,  with  gentle 
seriousness. 

"Will  Your  Majesty  fire  this  barrel  of  Gun- 
powder, or  tap  this  breaker  of  Grog  ? " 

"No,  I  thank  you." 

"  Is  there  no  command  Your  Majesty  would  lay 
upon  us  ? " 

"  No,  please,"  said  Polly,  in  a  failing  voice. 

"Is    there    anything   Your    Majesty   has   lost? 


48  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

Think  again!  Will  Your  Majesty  deign  to  cast 
your  royal  eyes  on  this  ?  " 

He  drew  from  under  his  buffalo  robe  what 
seemed  like  a  long  tress  of  blond  hair,  and  held  it 
aloft.  Polly  instantly  recognized  the  missing  scalp 
of  her  hapless  doll. 

"  If  you  please,  Sir,  it's  Lady  Mary's.  She's 
lost  it." 

"And  lost  it — Your  Majesty — only  to  find  some- 
thing more  precious  !  Would  Your  Majesty  hear 
the  story  ? " 

A  little  alarmed,  a  little  curious,  a  little  self- 
anxious,  and  a  little  induced  by  the  nudges  and 
pinches  of  her  companions,  the  Queen  blushingly 
signified  her  royal  assent. 

"  Enough.  Bring  refreshments.  Will  Your 
Majesty  prefer  winter-green,  peppermint,  rose,  or 
accidulated  drops  ?  Red  or  white  ?  Or  perhaps 
Your  Majesty  will  let  me  recommend  these  bull's 
eyes,"  said  the  leader,  as  a  collection  of  sweets  in  a 
hat  were  suddenly  produced  from  the  barrel  labelled 
"Gunpowder"  and  handed  to  the  children. 


THE   QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE   ISLE.  49 

"  Listen,"  he  continued,  in  a  silence  broken  only 
by  the  gentle  sucking  of  bull's  eyes.  "  Many  years 
ago  the  old  Red  Rovers  of  these  parts  locked  up  all 
their  treasures  in  a  secret  cavern  in  this  mountain. 
They  used  spells  and  magic  to  keep  it  from  being 
entered  or  found  by  anybody,  for  there  was  a 
certain  mark  upon  it  made  by  a  peculiar  rock  that 
stuck  out  of  it,  which  signified  what  there  was 
below.  Long  afterwards,  other  Red  Rovers  who 
had  heard  of  it,  came  here  and  spent  days  and  days 
trying  to  discover  it ;  digging  holes  and  blasting 
tunnels  like  this,  but  of  no  use !  Sometimes  they 
thought  they  discovered  the  magic  marks  in  the 
peculiar  rock  that  stuck  out  of  it,  but  when  they 
dug  there  they  found  no  treasure.  And  why  ? 
Because  there  was  a  magic  spell  upon  it.  And 
what  was  that  magic  spell?  Why,  this!  It  could 
only  be  discovered  by  a  person  who  could  not 
possibly  know  that  he  or  she  had  discovered 
it,  who  never  could  or  would  be  able  to  enjoy 
it,  who  Cv.  'J  never  see  it,  never  feel  it,  never, 
in  fact  know  anything  at  all  about  it!  It  wasn't 


50  THE    QUEEN    OF   THE    PIRATE   ISLE. 

a  dead  man,  it  wasn't  an  animal,  it  wasn't  a 
baby!" 

"  Why,"  said  Polly,  jumping  up  and  clapping 
her  hands,  "it  was  a  Dolly." 

"Your  Majesty's  head  is  level!  Your  Majesty 
has  guessed  it!"  said  the  leader,  gravely.  "It  was 
Your  Majesty's  own  dolly,  Lady  Mary,  who  broke 
the  spell !  When  Your  Majesty  came  down  the 
slide,  the  doll  fell  from  your  gracious  hand  when 
your  foot  slipped.  Your  Majesty  recovered  Lady 
Mary,  but  did  not  observe  that  her  hair  had  caught 
in  a  peculiar  rock,  called  the  'Outcrop,'  and  re- 
mained behind !  When,  later  on,  while  sitting  with 
your  attendants  at  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  Your 
Majesty  discovered  that  Lady  Mary's  hair  was 
gone ;  I  overheard  Your  Majesty,  and  despatched 
the  trusty  Step-and-Fetch-It  to  seek  it  at  the 
mountain  side.  He  did  so,  and  found  it  clinging  to 
the  rock,  and  beneath  it  —  the  entrance  to  the 
Secret  Cave  ! " 

Patsey  and  Hickory,  who,  failing  to  understand 
a  word  of  this  explanation,  had  given  themselves 


THE    QUEEN   OF   THE    PIRATE   ISLE.  51 

up  to  the  unconstrained  enjoyment  of  the  sweets, 
began  now  to  apprehend  that  some  change  was  im- 
pending, and  prepared  for  the  worst  by  hastily 
swallowing  what  they  had  in  their  mouths,  thus 
defying  enchantment,  and  getting  ready  for  speech. 
Polly,  who  had  closely  followed  the  story,  albeit 
with  the  embellishments  of  her  own  imagination, 
made  her  eyes  rounder  than  ever.  A  bland  smile 
broke  on  Wan  Lee's  face,  as,  to  the  children's 
amazement,  he  quietly  disengaged  himself  from  the 
group  and  stepped  before  the  leader. 

"  Melican  man  plenty  foolee  Melican  chillern. 
No  foolee  China  boy !  China  boy  knowee  you. 
You  no  Led  Lofer.  You  no  Pilat  —  you  allee 
same  tunnel  man — you  Bob  Johnson !  Me  shabbee 
you !  You  dressee  up  allee  same  as  Led  Lofer — 
but  you  Bob  Johnson  —  allee  same.  My  fader 
washee  washee  for  you.  You  no  payee  him.  You 
owee  him  folty  dolla !  Me  blingee  you  billee. 
You  no  payee  billee !  You  say,  '  Chalkee  up, 
John.'  You  say,  '  Bimeby,  John.'  But  me  no 
catchee  folty  dolla  !  " 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


A  roar  of  laughter  followed,  in  which  even  the 
leader  apparently  forgot  himself  enough  to  join. 
But  the  next  moment  springing  to  his  feet,  he 
shouted,  "  Ho !  ho  !  A  traitor !  Away  with 
him  to  the  deepest  dungeon  beneath  the  castle 
moat ! " 

Hickory  and    Patsey  began    to  whimper.      But 


THE    QUEEN   OF   THE    PIRATE   ISLE.  53 

Polly,  albeit  with  a  tremulous  lip,  stepped  to  the 
side  of  her  little  Pagan  friend.  "  Don't  you  dare 
to  touch  him,"  she  said,  with  a  shake  of  unexpected 
determination  in  her  little  curly  head ;  "if  you  do, 
I'll  tell  my  father,  and  he  will  slay  you!  All  of 
you — there  !  " 

"  Your  father !  Then  you  are  not  the  Queen  !  " 
It  was  a  sore  struggle  to  Polly  to  abdicate  her 
royal  position,  it  was  harder  to  do  it  with  befitting 
dignity.  To  evade  the  direct  question  she  was 
obliged  to  abandon  her  defiant  attitude.  "If  you 
please,  Sir,"  she  said,  hurriedly,  with  an  increasing 
colour  and  no  stops,  "  we're  not  always  pirates,  you 
know*  and  Wan  Lee  is  only  our  boy  what  brushes 
my  shoes  in  the  morning,  and  runs  of  errands,  and 
he  doesn't  mean  anything  bad,  Sir,  and  we'd  like  to 
take  him  back  home  with  us." 

"  Enough,"  said  the  leader,  changing  his  entire 
manner  with  the  most  sudden  and  shameless  incon- 
sistency. "You  shall  go  back  together,  and  woe 
betide  the  miscreant  who  would  prevent  it.  What 
say  you  brothers?  What  shall  be  his  fate  who 


54 


THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 


dares  to  separate  our  noble  Queen  from  her  faithful 
Chinese  henchman  ?  " 

"  He  shall  die  !"  roared  the  others,  with  beaming 
cheerfulness. 

"  And  what  say  you — shall  we  see  them  home  ?  ' 

"  We  will !"  roared  the  others. 

Before    the    children   could    fairly   comprehend 


what  had  passed,  they  were  again  lifted  into  the 
truck  and  began  to  glide  back  into  the  tunnel  they 
had  just  quitted.  But  not  again  in  darkness  and 
silence ;  the  entire  band  of  Red  Rovers  accom- 


THE   QUEEN   OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE.  55 

panied  them,  illuminating  the  dark  passage  with  the 
candles  they  had  snatched  from  the  walls.  In  a  few 
moments  they  were  at  the  entrance  again.  The 
great  world  lay  beyond  them  once  more  with  rocks 
and  valleys  suffused  by  the  rosy  light  of  the  setting 
sun.  The  past  seemed  like  a  dream. 

But  were  they  really  awake  now  ?  They  could 
not  tell.  They  accepted  everything  with  the  confi- 
dence and  credulity  of  all  children  who  have  no 
experience  to  compare  with  their  first  impressions 
and  to  whom  the  future  contains  nothing  impossible. 
It  was  without  surprise,  therefore,  that  they  felt 
themselves  lifted  on  the  shoulders  of  the  men  who 
were  making  quite  a  procession  along  the  steep 
trail  towards  the  settlement  again.  Polly  noticed 
that  at  the  mouth  of  the  other  tunnels  they  were 
greeted  by  men  as  if  they  were  carrying  tidings  of 
great  joy ;  that  they  stopped  to  rejoice  together, 
and  that  in  some  mysterious  manner  their  con- 
ductors had  got  their  faces  washed,  and  had  become 
more  like  beings  of  the  outer  world.  When  they 
neared  the  settlement  the  excitement  seemed  to 


56  THE    QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

have  become  greater;  people  rushed  out  to  shake 
hands  with  the  men  who  were  carrying  them,  and 
overpowered  even  the  children  with  questions  they 
could  not  understand.  Only  one  sentence  Polly 
could  clearly  remember  as  being  the  burden  of  all 
congratulations.  "Struck  the  old  lead  at  last!" 


THE   QUEEN   OF    THE    PIRATE   ISLE.  57 

With  a  faint  consciousness  that  she  knew  something 
about  it,  she  tried  to  assume  a  dignified  attitude  on 
the  leader's  shoulders  even  while  she  was  beginning 
to  be  heavy  with  sleep. 

And  then  she  remembered  a  crowd  near  her 
father's  house,  out  of  which  her  father  came  smiling 
pleasantly  on  her,  but  not  interfering  with  her 
triumphal  progress  until  the  leader  finally  deposited 
her  in  her  mother's  lap  in  their  own  sitting  room. 
And  then  she  remembered  being  "cross"  and  de- 
clining to  answer  any  questions,  and  shortly  after- 
wards found  herself  comfortably  in  bed.  Then  she 
heard  her  mother  say  to  her  father  :  — 

"It  really  seems  too  ridiculous  for  any  thing, 
John,  the  idea  of  these  grown  men  dressing  them- 
selves up  to  play  with  children." 

"Ridiculous  or  not,"  said  her  father,  "these 
grown  men  of  the  '  Excelsior '  mine  have  just  struck 
the  famous  old  lode  of  Red  Mountain,  which  is  as 
good  as  a  fortune  to  everybody  on  the  Ridge,  and 
were  as  wild  as  boys !  And  they  say  it  never 
would  have  been  found  if  Polly  hadn't  tumbled  over 


58  THE   QUEEN    OF    THE    PIRATE    ISLE. 

the  slide  directly  on  top  of  the  outcrop,  and  left  the 
absurd  wig  of  that  wretched  doll  of  hers  to  mark 
its  site." 


"  And  that,"  murmured  Polly  sleepily  to  her  doll 
as  she  drew  it  closer  to  her  breast,  "  is  all  that  they 
know  of  it." 

BRET    HARTE. 


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